Easy Concrete Pumpinghttp://easyconcretepumping.co.uk
Concrete PumpingSat, 16 Sep 2017 02:53:20 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1Concrete Pumps Hire or Rentalhttp://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/concrete-pumps-hire-rental/
http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/concrete-pumps-hire-rental/#respondThu, 26 Jan 2017 13:33:17 +0000http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/?p=3624There are two ways of mixing the cement, sand, aggregates and water to make concrete: by hand or with the help of a machine.

Hand mixing is usually reserved for a small project, and it takes a lot of work to get right.

Concrete Pumps Hire – The Better Option

There are two ways of mixing the cement, sand, aggregates and water to make concrete: by hand or with the help of a machine. Hand mixing is usually reserved for a small project, and it takes a lot of work to get right. It’s not easy to mix the elements in such a way that concrete would not crack or crumble later.

The difference lies in the homogeneity and quality of the mix. And the best way to deliver that mix is to look around for reliable concrete pump rental in your town or region. Mixer trucks using either standard or custom mixes are thus able to provide a much better product than workers turning and mixing the elements with shovels in a corner.

The best advice for concrete pump truck rental is to look around for the best option from both money and time. Contractors must juggle a number projects at the same time, all of which need concrete delivered on time at the required quality. As a result, having a concrete pump available where and when you need it would certainly require discussing a schedule with the contractor well ahead of time.

The same advice applies to screed. You can certainly mix it by hand or use a free fall mixer, but the forced action mixing employed by a machine is a much better option, especially when it comes to screed.

You cannot afford to pour it over concrete only to see the very layer that was supposed to provide a smooth and right base for your floor crack and crumble. You’re better off looking for a conventional screed pump for hire because doing a cheap, but the shoddy job will only end up costing you more in the long run.

Concrete pumps for rent are readily available because many contractors either lack the funds or the logistic means to run their fleet of construction equipment or are too small and see no reason to trade flexibility for assets that they may or may not be able to put to good use on a regular basis.

Thus, there are always a good number of equipment rental companies around that would be more than happy to do business with you. Just take your project to them or let your site manager handle everything.

If you’re a contractor and in need of a tow behind the concrete pump, what you need to do is figure out how much use you need to get out of it. Renting machines is not exactly cheap, and if you need it for extended periods of time, you could be better off buying your own.

Fees tend to add up to quite a sum after a certain point, and there’s always a question of availability. Whether you want to buy a new machine or a used one depends on your budget and the state of machines available for sale. The same goes when deciding whether to buy a big machine or a small one.

Another aspect to keep in mind is dust pollution at the site. Mixing concrete or screed by hand will always be more polluting compared to bringing in a mixer full of ready mix concrete.

If environment protection is an issue either for you or the client, then you should not resort to a method that would see a lot of dust and sand blew around. Always remember to call more than one concrete pumping equipment rental company and compare prices and availability.

Concrete Ready Mix Types

Consistency is the main advantage of choosing concrete ready mix over on-site mixes, followed by ease of use. Having the cement and aggregate mixed at the plant ensures that every batch of concrete has the same composition. A poorly mixed batch could see a part of your construction beginning to fail under the impact of rain and temperature changes (also known as the freeze-thaw cycle). Now that we’ve talked about the main types of pre-mixed concrete from the point of view of mixing let’s take a look at some ready mix concrete types from the usage point of view.

The Standard Mix – The most common concrete mix type is the standard concrete ready mix. As the name implies, it is used when the work doesn’t call for anything special. Even so, the mix is prepared at the concrete suppliers’ plant according to the contractor’s instructions. Like all the other types, the standard mix could be fully mixed at the plant or mixed partly at the plant and partly in transit.

The Rapid-setting Mix – This is a mixed used mostly in winter when conditions don’t give builders the time to let the concrete settle normally. However, the rapid-setting concrete ready mix also comes in handy for precast or formed applications and repairs and restoration work.

The Steel Fiber Reinforced Mix – The usual combination of concrete and aggregates is upgraded through the use of short fibres distributed uniformly through the concrete mix. Fibre is added with the purpose of controlling shrinkage during setting and drying to keep the concrete from cracking.

The conventional drying and shrinking process create cracks in concrete and fibres are used to fill in these cracks. Steel fibres are used to improve the structural strength of ready-mix concrete, as well as to increase the resistance to impact and abrasion.

The Propylene or Nylon Fiber Mix – Propylene or nylon are added to the ready mix cement and aggregates to increase mix cohesion and make concrete easier to pump over long distances. These fibres also improve the resistance to impact, abrasion, explosive spalling in a case of fire and ductility.

The Pervious Mix – This is a special mix made with large aggregates that make the concrete more porous, thus allowing water to pass through the concrete slabs and go into the ground. It is mostly used for pavement surfacing and city authorities like it because it allows the trees lining the sidewalks to benefit from stormwater.

However, developers are also interested in it because it pays to let at least some of the stormwater seep into the ground instead of having to install expensive drainage systems. It’s a good mix for backyard paths and other kinds of flat work if the ready mix concrete price doesn’t bother you.

The Architectural and Decorative Mix – This mix comes in a variety of colours and types of surfaces to allow decorators to do their work. The traditional way of a building called for concrete floors to be covered in tiles, but things have changed recently.

Some people pour coloured concrete mixes in decorative patterns and never bother with the tiles.

The Roller-compacted Mix – This is a blend of concrete that includes fly ash and much less water than other mixes. It’s usually brought to the site in dump trucks instead of transit mixers and spread with the help of bulldozers.

After the concrete mix is spread, it is compacted with vibratory rollers because it’s too dry to be handled otherwise.

Typically, it’s not used in combination with steel reinforcing. While not a common sight in home building projects, the roller-compacted mix is tight, cost-saving and quick to settle.

]]>http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/concrete-ready-mix-types/feed/0Ready Mix Concrete Typeshttp://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/ready-mix-concrete-types/
http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/ready-mix-concrete-types/#respondFri, 13 Jan 2017 07:52:15 +0000http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/?p=3593Ready mix concrete is a combination of cement, sand, aggregates and water mixed either in part or entirely at a central plant and delivered in batches to construction sites.

Types of Ready Mix Concrete – A Guide

Ready mix concrete is a combination of cement, sand, aggregates and water mixed either in part or entirely at a central plant and delivered in batches to construction sites. Each batch is mixed according to the contractor’s specifications and sent to sites in special trucks equipped with rotating drums. It’s an ideal solution for jobs where space does not allow the storing and mixing of components. Based on the mixing method, there are three main types of ready mix concrete. These are:

Central-mixed concrete;

Transit-mixed concrete;

Shrink-mixed concrete.

The first type is concrete mixed at what is sometimes called a central batching plant or a pre-mix plant. The components are thoroughly mixed before being loaded into a truck mixer’s drum. During the delivery run, the drum acts as an agitator to prevent the concrete mix from solidifying. If the construction site is close to the plant or if the workability requirements are low, regular dump trucks can be used for transportation purposes.

The second type is ready mix concrete that is batched at the plant before being poured into the truck’s drum. The mixing process starts in the truck en route to the construction site and is usually completed at the site, just before the concrete needs to be poured. For this reason, this type is known as transit-mixed concrete. Transit mixing prevents the cement and aggregates from mixing properly with the water and thus keeps the concrete from hardening prematurely or losing slump, two major problems experienced when transporting central-mixed concrete.

As a rule of thumb, concrete is held to be good for an hour and a half of travel or 700 revolutions of the drum. In this case, the drum revolves at slow or medium speeds during the trip to the job site. Once the truck reaches the site, the rotation speed is set to high (12 or 15 rotations per minute) to make sure the concrete is mixed properly before pouring it.

Reliable ready mix concrete suppliers send representatives to construction sites several days before their products are needed in order to check the job and to make sure that all formula and delivery details are in order. The contractor knows what concrete mixes are required for the job and will place the appropriate order with the suppliers. Always remember that truck mixers can carry less pre-mixed concrete compared to a dump truck and plan accordingly. If the job is big, you may need to have more than one delivery coming in, which in turn may require some planning.

The third type is called shrink-mixed concrete, meaning concrete that was partially mixed at the plant. The rest of the mixing is done en route to the construction site. This kind of mix requires some rather careful planning of the transportation phase in order to avoid arriving too early with a batch of insufficiently mixed concrete and losing time at the site while waiting for the mixing process to end.

All three types of ready mix concrete are usually given a good mixing at the site, before they are poured and placed, to make sure that the loss of consistency or fluidity (usually referred to as “slump”) had not exceeded the level required to make the batch viable. If the contractor needs a longer setting time, then the slump level needs to be high and, therefore, the mixer needs to lose as little slump as possible during delivery. At the same time, keep in mind that remixed concrete tends to set and harden quicker than concrete that was mixed only one time.

]]>http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/ready-mix-concrete-types/feed/0Pumping Ready Mixed Concrete – A Good Idea in Winter?http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/pumping-ready-mixed-concrete/
http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/pumping-ready-mixed-concrete/#respondFri, 06 Jan 2017 07:36:00 +0000http://easyconcretepumping.co.uk/?p=3587While ready mixed concrete pumping is a fast solution, winter adds its own challenges and these are the things you should be aware of.

Winter is almost upon us and, as everyone can tell you, winter is not the time of the year when people usually bring out the sacks of ready mixed concrete and start doing construction work. At least not major work, such as putting up outside walls or building a roof.

Winter is traditionally the time to do indoor work, though anything that requires drying or dry weather is best left until spring or even summer.

Ready Mixed Concrete in winter

While ready mixed concrete pumping is a fast solution, winter adds its own challenges and these are the things you should be aware of.

Winter is almost upon us and, as everyone can tell you, winter is not the time of the year when people usually bring out the sacks of ready mixed concrete and start doing construction work. At least not major work, such as putting up outside walls or building a roof.

Winter is traditionally the time to do indoor work, though anything that requires drying or dry weather is best left until spring or even summer.

Alternatively, you can still make good use of winter as a time of planning and collect information. If you’re going to be pumping concrete, you need to be up to date on ready mixed concrete types, pumping solutions and anything else that comes with construction projects.

However, you don’t always have the luxury of waiting until the time is right. Life has a tendency of disrupting even the best-laid plans, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, and you may find that things you thought could be comfortably put off unexpectedly leaping to the top of your to-do list.

What can you do in a situation when construction work has to be done very fast, winter or no winter? If major work is required, then the more expensive process of pumping concrete becomes a viable choice and you’d better start looking for cheap ready mixed concrete trailers for rent and comparing rates and prices.

In very cold weather concrete can freeze inside the line and then the line must be heated to keep everything going. That may introduce some delays and throw off your whole schedule.

You can also bring a hot water line to the ready mixed concrete rental, add the hot water to the mix and so keep it from freezing inside the line, but that’s another expense coming out of your wallet. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s definitely something you want to be prepared for.

Alternative options for concrete

Another option is to preheat the line and nip the whole problem in the bud. Then again, this is the kind of thing you’re paying the crew to handle on your behalf, while you sip coffee and keep an eye on the situation.

Alternatively, you could use what is known as an accelerator, meaning a substance added to the concrete mix to speed up the setting time; calcium chloride is the most efficient and least expensive accelerator, but keep in mind that it corrodes reinforcement bars.

If time is of the essence, by all means, go for it. But don’t forget to compare ready mixed concrete sale prices because there’s really no need to pay more than you should. Of course, the underlying price is not always the only factor you need to take into account. Be sure to check every other cost involved and every product and service included.

If you’re thinking that maybe this whole concrete pumping thing can wait until winter is over, keep in mind that good weather is not guaranteed in any season. It’s not a bad idea to put major construction work off until the good weather sets in, but remember that spring may turn out too wet, while summer may be too hot.

Just like a freezing winter, a hot summer could force you to move fast, make use of all your scheduling skills and spend additional funds just to keep things going smoothly. And we’re only talking about a straightforward project using ready mixed concrete sacks. Remember that other types of work pose different challenges.